Tommy and the Heartbreakers tenth set, last album of the 20th century and last one produced with Rick Rubin.

With the aging process settling in on Petty, his state of mind at this time his life, and/or with the push of Rubin, whatever the reason(s), the influences surface and show quite clearly on this set, the Everly Brothers and the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Ray Davies.

Unlike those artists, nobody is likely to look back at Petty decades from now and revisit some of his works to realize just how valuable they were, but like so many of Petty’s albums, this is certainly worth a spin. Fans should find plenty to enjoy.

Louisiana rhythm and blues, sounding like it was placed right where he was born, just west of where the Mississippi River empties into the voodoo swamp, just east of that Texas rodeo stomp, not so far from Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia, for fans of fast down-home electric blues, rootsy country or rockabilly.

Thirty years after the 60s, Dale’s first long-player since 1969, this picks up right where he left off, and even if we didn’t need an updated version of Susie-Q, this set doesn’t sound redundant or stuck in the past. Instead this just sounds like he was having himself some fun.